Animal Cults

Animals as gods, malevolent beings, and companions appear in profusion in Celtic mythology. In fact, they play as important a part in the myths as do the human characters.

The divine bull and magical cows are an important motif, and perhaps the Táin Bó Cuailgne is the most famous demonstration of this. Trigaranus, the three-horned bull of Gaul, is also found in Britain. We have the survival of the Gaulish name Donnotauros, “Brown, of Kingly Bull.” Boann is one of several goddesses connected with cattle; her name seems to signify “she of the white cattle.” The story of the cow of Buchat Buasach has an Otherworld bull owned by the Mórrígán attempting to make off with it.

Well known are stories of boars and magical pigs. The boar is the Celtic cult animal par excellence. The meat of the boar was a sacred dish served during the feasts of the gods in the Otherworld. Celtic myths are littered with destructive pigs and boars. Most famous in the Welsh sagas is the hunt for the great boar Twrch Trwyth, which features in the story of “Culhwch and Olwen.” The parallel in Irish myth seems to be Torc Triath, the king of boars, who was one of the possessions of the goddess Brigid. Supernatural pigs also emerge from the Cave of Cruachan, the entrance to the Otherworld. The Gaulish “Mercury” appears with the epithet Moccus (Welsh moch, Irish muc, meaning “pigs”).

Cats also appear, although they don’t often play a prominent role. In Irish myth, one cat is guardian to an Otherworld treasure and is able to change itself into a ball of fire.

Horses play their part. Horses of fantastic colours appear from the Otherworld. The wife of the Irish god Midir, Étain Echraide, is by her very name connected with horses. Some scholars have suggested her equivalent to be Rhiannon in Welsh saga. Epona, the Divine Horse, was a Gaulish divinity and won special favour among the cavalry of the Roman army, being the only Celtic goddess known to have been worshipped in Rome.

Stags, deer, and fawns also have magical qualities. They often are gods and goddesses who have been shape-changed, such as Oisín’s mother, Sadb. We have the Irish goddess Flidhais, who ruled over the beasts of the forest and whose cattle were the wild deer. Stags sometimes appear with three antlers to indicate their supernatural qualities. Indeed, horned animals usually have three horns—the mystical Celtic trinity.